Events of the IRIS project 2009-2011

Theme and Scope:

Creating content for Interactive Storytelling has often been considered as a challenge for writers and story creators, reaching beyond traditional ways of conceiving story. In order to grant users some influence in a digital storyworld, sensemaking responses to their interactions need to be foreseen. Within the research field of Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS), Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an important role in providing approaches going beyond linear branching, in order to support creators with generative technologies. It helps to achieve higher degrees of variability in responses to user interactions, for example by dynamically adjusting the sequencing of events or actions.
However, these same supportive technologies also raise new challenges for authors. For example, story ideas may need to be transformed into world models that are more abstract from the final outcome in a certain medium, and dynamic behavior needs to be defined by rules. This kind of conception appears to be close to programming, which discourages a lot of creative people.

The IRIS project has set out - among other objectives - to make Interactive Storytelling technologies more accessible to authors. The project is now - in Summer 2011 - starting into its final phase. During the previous 2,5 years, we collected approaches, issues and solutions in the realm of creating dynamic storyworlds for AI-based Interactive Storytelling. We suggested novel design principles for interactive story creation, and created some exemplary material to be used for demonstration and education. We want to share these results with an interested community, also wishing to receive critical feedback and start discussions.

If you are a writer, researcher, professional, artist, or just a creative mind in the domain of Interactive Digital Storytelling, the Summerschool in August 2011 is an opportunity to get in contact with us.

• IRIS Summerschool on Interactive Story Creation
  Wiesbaden, Germany // August 2011

• ACE 2011 Tutorial: Interactive Story Creation with Generative Tools and Systems
  Lisbon, Portugal // November 2011

• ICIDS 2010 Tutorial and Workshop
  

  Interactive Story Creation / Education in Interactive Storytelling
  Edinburgh, UK // October 31st, 2010 (Sunday)
  Half-day Tutorial (morning) and half-day Workshop (afternoon)